Selecting a cost-effective bandwidth for transmitting information to an end user in a computer network

ABSTRACT

A cost effective method for generating and delivering scalable multimedia content targeted at specific end user(s) via client computers coupled to servers by a diverse computer network which includes local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs) such as the internet. In one embodiment in which the server is billed for network bandwidth consumed, upon receiving an end user request for multimedia content, the server computes the likelihood of patronage. Indicators useful for estimating the likelihood of patronage include regularity of patronage, income history, credit worthiness, age, hobbies, occupation and marital status. A cost effective bandwidth is selected for delivering the requested content. Such an arrangement is advantageous because the content is delivered to end user at a bandwidth corresponding to the probability of consummating a sale.

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.08/887,754 filed Jul. 3, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,701.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the customization of information. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to the distribution ofcustomized multimedia content over a network.

2. Related Applications

Pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/818,804, filed Mar. 14,1997, entitled “Production of a Video Stream with synchronizedAnnotations over a Computer Network”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,241 isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

3. Description of the Related Art

With the proliferation of connections to the internet by a rapidlygrowing number of consumers, the viability of the internet as a widelyaccepted marketing channel using multimedia content has increasedcorrespondingly. However, in a substantially dispersed marketplace,sending the same marketing content to all the consumers within themarketplace is not cost effective.

This is because consumers within the substantially dispersed marketplacemay have diverse interests since their needs can vary greatly. Using asporting goods example, a busy executive may only be interested instationary exercise machines, while a retired engineer may be interestedin rifles and camping equipment. Consumer needs also vary greatlydepending on geographical location. Swimsuits are probably more popularin San Diego than in Anchorage. Conversely, snow mobiles are probablysell better in Alaska than in Arizona.

As such, efficient distribution of marketing information is needed toavoid wasting network resources. However, traditional methods ofmarketing generally involve mass marketing information to the consumerswithin the marketplace. This mass marketing model is unsatisfactory forlarge marketplaces wherein the consumers are more likely to have diverseinterest.

In view of the foregoing, there are desired improved techniques forefficiently distributing marketing information over a computer networkto consumers with diverse interest, while efficiently utilizing thenetwork resources thereby providing consumers with information that isof interest to the individual consumer in a cost effective manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides cost effective scalable multimediacontent targeted at specific end user(s) via client computers coupled toservers by a diverse computer network which includes local area networks(LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs) such as the internet. Multimediacontent includes video/audio streams and textual and/or graphicalinformation such as applets and HTML pages.

In one embodiment in which the server is billed for network bandwidthconsumed, upon receiving an end user request for multimedia content, theserver computes the likelihood of patronage. Indicators useful forestimating the likelihood of patronage include regularity of patronage,income history, credit worthiness, age, hobbies, occupation and maritalstatus. A cost effective bandwidth is selected for delivering therequested content. Such an arrangement is advantageous because thecontent is delivered to end user at a bandwidth corresponding to theprobability of consummating a sale. These and other advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent upon reading the followingdetailed descriptions and studying the various figures of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for practicingthe various aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary hardware environment forpracticing the customizable information distribution (CID) system of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the generation and delivery oflocalized content for end user(s) in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the generation and delivery ofpersonalized content for end user(s) in accordance with another aspectof the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the selection of cost effectivebandwidth for delivering scalable multimedia content to end user(s) inaccordance with yet another aspect of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference toa few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. In the following description, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, thatthe present invention may be practiced without some or all of thesespecific details. In other instances, well known process steps have notbeen described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure thepresent invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 100 forpracticing the various aspects of the present invention. Computer system100 includes a display screen (or monitor) 104, a printer 106, a floppydisk drive 108, a hard disk drive 110, a network interface 112, and akeyboard 114. Computer system 100 includes a microprocessor 116, amemory bus 118, random access memory (RAM) 120, read only memory (ROM)122, a peripheral bus 124, and a keyboard controller 126. Computersystem 100 can be a personal computer (such as an Apple computer, e.g.,an Apple Macintosh, an IBM personal computer, or one of the compatiblesthereof), a workstation computer (such as a Sun Microsystems orHewlett-Packard workstation), or some other type of computer.

Microprocessor 116 is a general purpose digital processor which controlsthe operation of computer system 100. Microprocessor 116 can be asingle-chip processor or can be implemented with multiple components.Using instructions retrieved from memory, microprocessor 116 controlsthe reception and manipulation of input data and the output and displayof data on output devices.

Memory bus 118 is used by microprocessor 116 to access RAM 120 and ROM122. RAM 120 is used by microprocessor 116 as a general storage area andas scratch-pad memory, and can also be used to store input data andprocessed data. ROM 122 can be used to store instructions or programcode followed by microprocessor 116 as well as other data.

Peripheral bus 124 is used to access the input, output, and storagedevices used by computer system 100. In the described embodiment(s),these devices include display screen 104, printer device 106, floppydisk drive 108, hard disk drive 110, and network interface 112. Keyboardcontroller 126 is used to receive input from keyboard 114 and senddecoded symbols for each pressed key to microprocessor 116 over bus 128.

Display screen 104 is an output device that displays images of dataprovided by microprocessor 116 via peripheral bus 124 or provided byother components in computer system 100. Printer device 106 whenoperating as a printer provides an image on a sheet of paper or asimilar surface. Other output devices such as a plotter, typesetter,etc. can be used in place of, or in addition to, printer device 106.

Floppy disk drive 108 and hard disk drive 110 can be used to storevarious types of data. Floppy disk drive 108 facilitates transportingsuch data to other computer systems, and hard disk drive 110 permitsfast access to large amounts of stored data.

Microprocessor 116 together with an operating system operate to executecomputer code and produce and use data. The computer code and data mayreside on RAM 120, ROM 122, or hard disk drive 120. The computer codeand data could also reside on a removable program medium and loaded orinstalled onto computer system 100 when needed. Removable programmediums include, for example, CD-ROM, PC-CARD, floppy disk and magnetictape.

Network interface circuit 112 is used to send and receive data over anetwork connected to other computer systems. An interface card orsimilar device and appropriate software implemented by microprocessor116 can be used to connect computer system 100 to an existing networkand transfer data according to standard protocols.

Keyboard 114 is used by a user to input commands and other instructionsto computer system 100. Other types of user input devices can also beused in conjunction with the present invention. For example, pointingdevices such as a computer mouse, a track ball, a stylus, or a tabletcan be used to manipulate a pointer on a screen of a general-purposecomputer.

The present invention can also be embodied as computer readable code ona computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any datastorage device that can store data which can be thereafter be read by acomputer system. Examples of the computer readable medium includeread-only memory, random-access memory, magnetic data storage devicessuch as diskettes, and optical data storage devices such as CD-ROMs. Thecomputer readable medium can also be distributed over a network coupledcomputer systems so that the computer readable code is stored andexecuted in a distributed fashion.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary hardware environment forpracticing the customizable information distribution (CID) system of thepresent invention. The CID system includes a global server 210, aplurality of local servers 221, 222, . . . 229, and a plurality ofclient computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b, . . . 242 z, .. . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z, each of which can be implemented usingthe “general purpose” computer system 100 described above.Alternatively, client computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b,. . . 242 z, . . . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z may also be specializedmicroprocessor/microcontroller based systems, including television-based“set-top” boxes such as WebTV's boxes.

Global server 210 and local servers 221, 222, . . . 229 are coupled toclient computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b, . . . 242 z, .. . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z, via a computer network 290, e.g., theinternet. In addition, global server 210 is coupled to a global database215, while local servers 221, 222, . . . 229 are coupled to localdatabases 251, 252, . . . 259, respectively. Note that the disclosedhardware environment is exemplary. For example, global database 215 maybe coupled to global server 210 via network 290. Similarly, localservers 221, 222, . . . 229 may be coupled, via network 290, to localdatabases 251, 252, . . . 259, respectively.

In this embodiment, global server 210 is a stream server and providesvideo stream(s) and optional global annotation stream(s) to one or moreof client computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b, . . . 242z, . . . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z, on demand. As described in the abovecited U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/818,804, entitled “Productionof a Video Stream with synchronized Annotations over a ComputerNetwork”, upon a request from a client computer, e.g., client computer241 a, encoded video/audio frames and any associated global annotationframes are streamed from global server 210 to client computer 241 a forsynchronous display. Streaming high content data such as video framesover network 290 is very efficient because streaming eliminates the needfor a large buffer at client computer 241 a. In addition, streaming alsoprovides flexibility, e.g., switching video sources midstream ispossible without wasting network resources since streaming is based on ajust-in-time (JIT) protocol and does not involve downloads of the entirevideo stream prior to display at client computer 241 a. The encodedvideo/audio streams are then decoded by and displayed at client computer241 a.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, as illustrated by theflowchart of FIG. 3, global content such as global video frames isstreamed from global server 210 (step 310), while local content such aslocal annotations is retrieved from local server 221 (step 320). Localannotations can include banners, ticker tape, subtitles and/or animatedgraphics. In this example, synchronization of the global video framesand the local annotations is accomplished by sending control packetsfrom global server 210 to local server 221. Such an arrangement permitscustomized information which includes both global content and customizedlocal content to be delivered to groups of end users or for individualend users at client computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b, .. . 242 z, . . . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z (step 330).

In one implementation, local annotation frames for retrieving localcontent are streamed from local server 221. Annotation frames includeevent type and data type. In the case of a flipper frame, an event type,each flipper frame includes a HTML address and an event time marker. Inthe case of a ticker frame, a data type, each ticker frame includesticker data and an event time marker. Note that an event time markerneed not be identical to the time stamp of a corresponding video frame.Client computer 241 a is capable of switching to a new displayable eventtogether with a video frame or in between two video frames.

In this example, flipper annotation frames are provided synchronouslywith the video/audio frames to client computer 241 a so that theannotations, i.e., displayable events, such as HTML pages, can beretrieved and synchronously displayed at client computer 241 a.Accordingly, URL addresses, for synchronizing HTML page flips with videostream are provided to client computer 241 a for subsequently retrievaland display of various textual and graphical elements updated atpredetermined points corresponding to the timeline of the video stream.Note that HTML pages can be retrieved from either local server 221, aneighboring local server, e.g., local server 222, or other web server(s)(not shown) via network 290. The HTML pages include localized graphicalinformation accompanying the video stream, such as handouts in a distantlearning example.

In the case of ticker annotation frames, a data event type, tickerframes are provided by local server 221 synchronously with thevideo/audio frames so that the annotations, i.e., displayable tickerdata can be synchronized for display at client computer 241 a atpredetermined points corresponding to the timeline of the video stream.Ticker data include localized textual data, such as subtitles of a moviein the local language.

Hence, the customized information delivered to the end user is acombination of global content, e.g., a global video movie, and localcontent, e.g., local language subtitles. Note that the above descriptionof storing global and/or local information is only exemplary.Information can be distributed and stored in one or more physicallocations. For example, global content may be cached at local server 221or at an intermediate/regional server (not shown) located somewherebetween global server 210 and local server 221. In addition, localdatabase 251 may be a separate structure coupled to local server 221 asshown in FIG. 2, or local database 251 may be part of local server 221.

In the example described, the global content and the local content arerelated, e.g., a global video stream and local subtitles. However, theinvention is equally useful for applications where the local content isunrelated to the global content. For example, in a marketing context,the local content may be HTML pages of localized graphicaladvertisements generated using Java applets and unrelated to the videostream. Such advertisements may be paid for by the sponsors of the videostream. For example, a global video stream of the Superbowl game may beaccompanied by advertisements for sporting goods, health drinks or anyother product. Depending on the browser, the end user at client computer241 a may not have the choice of disabling the advertisements.

Hybrids of the above described embodiment are also possible. In yetanother embodiment, global annotation frames are streamed from globalserver 210. The global annotation frames include common directoryinformation and file names. In this example, the respective localservers store the corresponding local content under a similar directorystructure. As a result, the common directory information and file namescan be used by client computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b,. . . 242 z, . . . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z. Upon receipt of the globalannotation flames from global server 210, client computer 241 a appendsthe network address of a pre-assigned local server, e.g., local server221, and then proceeds with the retrieval of local content from thepre-assigned server.

Besides annotation frames, other schemes for providing localized orcustomized information are possible. For example, the end user may senda request for marketing information to global server 210, via, forexample, a web browser (note shown) executing on client computer 241 a.In accordance with a predetermined redirection plan, global server 210forwards the request to the appropriate local server, e.g., local server221. Subsequently, local server 221 provides local marketing contenttogether with global content from global server 210 to client computer241 a for display via the web browser. Alternatively, the end user atclient computer 241 a may request marketing information from localserver 221 which retrieves global content from global server 210, andthen provides both global and local content to the end user.

Other combinations are also possible. For example, the video stream canbe an online news program. Accordingly, global content includes a worldnews portion and a national news portion streamed to client computers241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b, . . . 242 z, . . . 249 a, 249b, . . . 249 z. The accompanying local content, e.g., subtitles for thehearing impaired, can either be global, regional or localized to suitthe targeted end users. Local content can also include a local newsportion is streamed to a subset of client computers, e.g., clientcomputers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a variety ofcriteria is employed to subdivide client computers 241 a, 241 b, . . .241 z, 242 a, 242 b, . . . 242 z, . . . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z. Forexample, global server 210 may serve a substantial geographical area,such as Canada, U.S.A., or the Latin American countries. As such, whileclient computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b, . . . 242 z, .. . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z from diverse areas, may be interested inthe same video stream, client computers may prefer different localcontent. For example, viewers in Ontario may prefer HTML pages inEnglish while viewers in Quebec may prefer HTML pages in French.

The present invention can be adapted to support a wide range in thetotal number of end users. Hence, where the marketplace supported byglobal server 210 is substantially large, it is also possible to dividethe marketplace into several levels of servers. For example, in athree-level model, there will be global server(s), regional servers andlocal servers providing global content, regional content and localcontent, respectively.

In the marketing context, exemplary criteria for dividing themarketplace includes geography, climate, demography or nationalboundaries or combinations of thereof. For example, a division bylatitude results in northern and southern states. A division by timezones results in the division of eastern and western states. A divisionby population density, appropriate for products such as lawn mowers,results in the division of big cities such as New York City andurban/rural areas where residents are more likely to have backyards withlawns.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, as illustrated bythe flowchart of FIG. 4, in addition to receiving global contentoriginating from global server 210 (step 410), local servers 221, 222, .. . 229 retrieve personal information such as personal profiles storedin local databases 251, 252, . . . 259 about end users associated withclient computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z, 242 a, 242 b, . . . 242 z, .. . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z (step 420). Alternatively, local databases251, 252, . . . 259 do not store the profiles but include pointers forretrieving the profiles from other databases or web servers (not shown)when the need arises.

From the marketing perspective, personal information such as familyincome, hobbies and ages, provide useful indicators of the consumptionhabits of the end users. For example, an avid outdoorsman is a likelyconsumer of tents, sleeping bags, freeze dried food, and perhaps huntingrifles. Similarly, a wealthy family is more likely to purchase anexpensive European sports sedan. Accordingly, the personal informationcan be used by local servers 221, 222, . . . 229 to generatepersonalized content which has a high likelihood of generating saleorders from the end users at client computers 241 a, 241 b, . . . 241 z,242 a, 242 b, . . . 242 z, . . . 249 a, 249 b, . . . 249 z (step 430).Next, customized information which includes both global content andpersonalized content is delivered to the end user(s) (step 440).

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another aspect of the invention in which a costeffective bandwidth is selected for transmitting scalable multimediacontent to the end user which corresponds to the likelihood ofpatronage. In this example, as in most wide area networks such as theinternet, the content provider, e.g., advertiser, is billed forbandwidth used to disseminate the multimedia content. As such, in orderto spent the marketing budget wisely, a cost effective scheme forselecting an appropriate bandwidth to deliver content is needed.

Upon receiving an optional end user request for the scalable multimediacontent (step 510), a cost effective bandwidth is selected fortransmitting the scalable content to the end user which corresponds tothe likelihood of patronage (step 530). In this example, the scalablecontent is stored in a server, e.g., local server 221. Examples ofscalable content include a scalable video stream or as a plurality ofvideo streams corresponding different data transmission rates.

Indicators useful for estimating the likelihood of patronage, whichindicates a likely return on the marketing investment, includeregularity of patronage at the business, customers' income history,credit worthiness, age, hobbies, occupation and marital status (step520). For example, if a request for a Rolls Royce came from an end userwith an annual income of over a million dollars, the Rolls Royce dealerwill likely transmit the sales information in the best resolutionpossible for the highest available bandwidth. Conversely, if the samerequest came from a twelve year old automobile buff with a very smallexpendable allowance, selecting the lowest bandwidth would beappropriate.

Note that other non end user specific factors may also be used to selectan appropriate transmission bandwidth. For example, the overalldemand/cost for the bandwidth at the time of the request or the time ofday may be factors. Thus, end user indicators and non end user factorsare used to select a cost effective bandwidth which is then used todeliver multimedia content to the end user (step 540). Although theabove described example is based on a “pull” model, i.e., the multimediacontent is delivered to the end user upon a request, the invention isequally applicable to unsolicited multimedia content.

Hence, in yet another embodiment, although more intrusive from the enduser perspective, a “push” model of providing unsolicited localizedmarketing content may also be implemented. For example, instead ofclient computer 241 a fetching an HTML page, an area of the web browser(or equivalent) executing on client computer 241 a may be reserved fordisplaying localized marketing content that the end user does not havecontrol over. Generally, if the global content is interesting enough,most end users have a level of tolerance for unsolicited marketinginformation. Commercial television have exploited this tolerance byinserting paid short commercials within popular television programs.

The different aspects of the present invention described above may bepracticed with network performance improvement techniques such asmulticasting and/or recasting. For example, pending U.S. patentapplication, Ser. No. 08/865,788, filed May 30, 1997, entitled “Methodand Apparatus for Distributed Transmission of Real Time MultimediaInformation”, by Navin Chaddha et al, discloses a recasting server whichpushes multiple bandwidth points and indexes in parallel with secondaryservers, capable of dynamically switching bandwidth during transmission.

While this invention has been described in terms of several preferredembodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents whichfall within the scope of this invention. For example, instead ofdistributing the regional/local content among regional/local servers, itis also possible to store regional/local content at the global server,to be selectively delivered to the appropriate end user(s). It istherefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted asincluding all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: computing a probability ofconsummating a sale; and selecting a cost effective bandwidth from aplurality of bandwidths corresponding to the probability of consummatinga sale.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving arequest for multimedia content; and delivering the multimedia contentusing the selected cost effective bandwidth.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein computing the probability of consummating a sale uses at leaston indicator from a group consisting of past patronage, income, credit,age, occupation and marital status.
 4. The method of claim 2, whereinthe multimedia content includes a video stream.
 5. The method of claim2, wherein the multimedia content includes content based on geographiclocation of a user.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein the multimediacontent includes a global portion and a local portion and wherein thelocal portion is customized according to a database of indicators. 7.The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the cost effective bandwidthalso uses non end user factors such as demand for the bandwidth or thetime of day.
 8. A computer readable medium having instructions storedthereon for causing a computer to perform a method comprising: receivinga request for multimedia content from a user; computing a probability ofconsummating a sale for the user; selecting a cost effective bandwidthfrom a plurality of bandwidths corresponding to the probability ofconsummating a sale; delivering the multimedia content to the user usingthe selected cost effective bandwidth.
 9. The computer readable mediumof claim 8, wherein the multimedia content includes an annotationstream.
 10. A computer readable medium having instructions storedthereon for causing a computer to perform a method comprising: receivinga request; computing a probability of consummating a sale usingindicators stored in a database; responding to the request by usingresources corresponding to the probability of consummating a sale. 11.The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the indicators includegeography, climate, demography and national boundaries.
 12. A methodcomprising: receiving global content from a global server; retrievinglocal content from a local server; computing a probability ofconsummating a sale; and delivering customized information to a clientcomputer using a bandwidth corresponding to the probability ofconsummating a sale, wherein the customized information includes theglobal content and the local content.
 13. A computer readable mediumhaving instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform amethod comprising: receiving global content for a user; retrieving auser profile from a local database; generating personalized contentbased on the user profile; computing a probability of consummating asale; and delivering the global content and the personalized content tothe user using a bandwidth corresponding to the probability ofconsummating a sale.
 14. The computer readable medium of claim 13,wherein the personalized content includes textual annotations.
 15. Asystem for delivering multimedia content, including global content andlocal content, comprising: a global server to send global content; alocal server including a local database and coupled to the global serverto send local content, wherein the local database has user profiles, andwherein the local server computes a probability of consummating a saleand selects a bandwidth from a plurality of bandwidths corresponding tothe probability of consummating a sale; and a client computer coupled tothe local server to receive the multimedia content.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the multimedia content includes language basedinformation corresponding to a geographic location of the clientcomputer.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the global server includesa top level global server and a plurality of regional global servers.18. The system of claim 15, wherein the local server includes aplurality of regional servers.
 19. The method of claim 12, wherein thebandwidth further comprises cost effective bandwidth.
 20. The method ofclaim 13, wherein the bandwidth further comprises cost effectivebandwidth.
 21. The method of claim 15, wherein the bandwidth furthercomprises cost effective bandwidth.
 22. A computer readable mediumhaving instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform amethod comprising: receiving a request; computing a likelihood ofpatronage using indicators stored in a database; responding to therequest by using resources corresponding to the probability ofconsummating a sale.
 23. The computer readable medium of claim 22,wherein the indicators include geography, climate, demography andnational boundaries.
 24. The computer readable medium of claim 22,wherein file resources include bandwidth.